Got sleds?

Friday I finally had time to go get the battery for the Ski-Doo, installation was no big issue and it fired up like it'd been run yesterday. I really shouldn't complain about this sled. I haven't ridden it much but it also hasn't asked for much from me. Getting it out of its parking space was a bit of a challenge, I'd parked it on a pallet and since it doesn't have any picks it really didn't have any traction. I jockeyed it back and forth for awhile and it finally came out. My biggest complaint about this machine is that the backup beeper is REALLY LOUD. Its like driving a big truck...

After I took this pic I put the windscreen on. I take it off during the summer so it doesn't get bent or broken.

The Wankel Panther didn't have spark so I pulled the recoil and its cup and cleaned the points. Caig Deoxit to the rescue again. After only 2 strips of business card I had good spark and the sled fired up with little trouble. I rode it about 10 feet, came of throttle and went right over the handlebars. It was warm and the snow was very sticky and that sled tends to stop quick anyway and I was caught off guard. I landed with my hands on the headlight and the windshield across my chest. Even 3 days later I can still feel the line across my chest where I landed. Last year after the blizzard Angie did a similar trick but landed with her face on the handlebars, this is clearly a machine to be careful on.

I made a couple laps of the yard with each machine and then tarped them up.

Unfortunately the weather turned warm, it was actually over 50F for the next 2 days and nights and the snow has rapidly disappeared. Today its colder, just over freezing but its raining which is even worse. The only good side is that there wasn't much ice on the lakes so now it'll hopefully get a chance to freeze without snow on so people who can't resist the allure won't be killed by thin ice.

New snow and the taste of failure

This month's "Storm of the Century" is upon us, 10-12" of snow overnight into tomorrow. I'm glad I got the Pantera out already.

So I decided it was finally time to deal with the Cobra which if you remember seemed to have iffy spark last year. Tonight I pulled the exhaust and recoil and cleaned the points. Interestingly there seemed to be a coating of black crap on them. I cleaned and cleaned.

For cleaning I turn the flywheel until one set of points is open, then I shoot some Caig Deoxit into the gap, then spin to the other side and repeat. I bought some 100% Deoxit in the hope it would do an even better job than the already excellent regular Deoxit which is only like 20%. They sell lower strength formulations to be safe on sensitive electronics. Points really aren't all that sensitive so the 100% stuff seems the way to go here.

After they sit for a minute and the Deoxit softens whatever crud is in there I flip the flywheel until the points are closed, then open them with a screwdriver and stick in a piece of cardstock. In this case I'm using cut up strips of business card.

Yank on the strip and it pulls crud off the points. Flip it around, open the points and repeat. Snip off the dirty part and repeat, then throw it away, get a new strip and repeat. And repeat, and repeat.

Reassembled and tried to fire it up. It'll go and sometimes even fire on both sides but not reliably. The mag side is firing 100% while the PTO side is recalcitrant. I need to look up which set of points controls which plug as I can't remember. I'd guess the rear since it was dirtier.

Anyway I took it all apart again and this time even pulled the flywheel. Thats when I found a little oil below the stator plate. I think the reason the points are so dirty is that the crank seal on this side has been leaking and allowing the gas/oil mix from this side to get out a little. That might explain why the points are so dirty after a relatively short amount of running.

So it looks like I need to do crank seals. I've actually never done them before on anything other than the old single cylinder Rotax in the Ski-Doo 12/3. It'll be an adventure.

Tomorrow I'll give the old Wankel Panther a shot. I probably should have tried it today instead of the Polaris. Last time I tried to revive the Panther it had the same spark trouble but responded very positively to cleaning. Hopefully this year it'll just go, I hate working outside in the snow.

Time for a change?

Now has finally returned to north central MA and as usual I'm caught completely flat footed. Fortunately the '78 Pantera fired up nicely yesterday, took a bunch of pulling but we got there. It needs the tinwork pulled to release a mouse nest but other than that no worries.

The big '95 Ski-Doo was a different story. I put the battery charger on it even though the charger said the battery wasn't taking charge, after sitting all summer the battery should have at least been a little flat, especially considering how little exercise its had for the last 2 years. After an hour I hit the key and the starter goes "thunk" but nothing else happens. I pulled the starter rope to ensure that the engine wasn't seized which it isn't but theres NO WAY I can start the big 670 with the rope. I feel like an 8 year old trying to start a 440cc...

Battery should be here...

So the battery is pooched, hardly a surprise its 5 years old. I headed down to the shop for the bad news, Randy says I'm in for $65 which isn't bad, $13/yr which puts a pretty positive spin on things.

However I've never really fallen in love with this machine, its huge, its heavy, I can't start it without the electric start. I think its time to move on. The boys hanging around the shop knew of a couple 440/500cc fan cooled 2up machines in the $1000 range. We refinanced the house this year so money is actually more available than it has been in the past. A quick look at Craigslist shows a bunch of machines in the $1500 range, some with reasonably low miles.

So I guess I'm in the market for a new machine:
370-500cc
Fan cooled
2up
Electric Start
Reverse

At this point in my life reverse is something I really like. I'm thinking 2up because then Angie can ride with me, I think 2up sleds also have a smoother ride just from being longer. That said I could give up on a 2up since Angie rides with me very infrequently and we've got extra machines so she could ride her own. I could also give up electric start if I had a machine I could pull over myself although I really like estart.

Finally I'd like something with a lot less throttle weight. The 670 is a wrist breaker. I spent some time last year lubing all the cables and it got a little better but its got 2 huge carbs with big springs, its never going to have an easy throttle. Apparently theres a throttle lightener which costs you some top end. I don't really care about top end but I've never been find one...

Thinking snow

Here I sit in sunny California and all I can think about is snow...

Lately I'd been considering selling my Wankel Panther but then I got an email from another enthusiast looking to make my primer mod and it got me thinking about that machine and how I've really hardly ever ridden it. Its done maybe 5 miles in the whole time I've had it. That makes me sad and makes me want to ride.
I've had 3 main problems with that sled in the time I've owned it:

#1. It was hard to start. This was actually an easy fix, my primer mod makes it start with just a couple pulls.

#2. It loses spark over the summer. This isn't something I've been able to prevent but its not that hard to fix. A shot of Deoxit and a swipe with clean paper and the points are clean again and stay clean for a whole season, unlike that stupid Polaris.

#3. Poor carburation. The Tillotson HL carb is crap. There are wicked flat spots in the power band and tuning makes it either not idle well hot or have poor takeoff power. The fix is a Mikuni conversion but considering its a machine I rarely ride I've never sprung for it.

#4. Rotten muffler. The muffler for the 303 is specific to that engine. Its just a can laying horizontally in front of the engine but unlike some of the other mufflers the one for the 303 has square corners like a coffee can. Most other mufflers have rounded corners like a propane canister which makes them not rust as bad on the inside. All the 303 mufflers I've ever found for sale were totally rotten so I finally made one out of a Cub Cadet tractor muffler. Its better than what I had but still not great. The biggest issue is that the can is narrower in diameter than stock so its hard to mount. Additionally I need to go back and open it up again so I can add more baffles as its still pretty loud.

Anyway I'm thinking when I'm back home I need to spend some time with the old buggy and see about getting it tuned up for winter. If I can make a satisfactory muffler maybe I'll be able to get myself to spring for a Mikuni conversion...

Still at little snow left

In theory I have 4 out of 5 snowmobiles in running condition so today I decided to get them all going and lined up. I started with the '71 Arctic Cat Panther (the Wankle Panther) and was delighted when it fired right up. In fact during a quick ride around the yard it went better than ever before. I'm kicking myself now for not taking this sled when I went riding a few weeks ago. Its relatively light and has a fairly long track, I think it would have handled the deep soft snow well.
Second was the '78 Arctic Cat Pantera, again an easy start and as usual I'm delighted with how the sled rides, this is definitely one of my all time favorite snowmobiles.
Next I tried the '79 Polaris Cobra. You might remember this one being a brat a few weeks ago, last night I pulled the plugs and had spark on both sides but something told me that just having spark was only part of the picture. Today that was proved out, while I have spark I don't think the PTO side is giving good fat spark like it should. After some farting around I got the machine to run but not well and it wouldn't pick up RPM. After running 30 seconds the MAG side cylinder is warm to the touch while the PTO side is cool. I predict some time with Deoxit in my future.

Finally I tried the '95 Ski Doo Grand Touring, I'd had this running back in October and then when we first got snow but it was sidelined from that first snow by holes in the exhaust. A long afternoon of welding fixed the exhaust but I temporarily lost interest in the sled being distracted by my vintage machines. Surprisingly this sled fired up with barely a touch of the key. One of my favorite things about Ski-Doos is the push/pull primer that makes getting them started a snap which is why I put one on the Wankle Panther.

I knew getting the sled started was only half the battle, as you can see in the picture it was still pretty well buried and after the fight with the Pantera I knew the Ski-Doo would be frozen to the ground. What I didn't realize is how BADLY it would be frozen to the ground. With the cooling and re-freezing cycles we've been having each of the skis is contained in a solid block of ice. I let the sled run and warm up while I grabbed a shovel and dug around some but finally gave up. I'll let nature do its work and thaw the skis out naturally.

Triumphant return!

After Saturday's difficulties and knowing there wasn't much time left I thought maybe I could head out early enough in the day so I could avoid the wet snow problem. Sunday I was up early and hit the snow around 9am. I was right, freezing temperatures the night before made a crust on top that looked real good.

The stupid Polaris wouldn't go, the left carb was leaking at the fuel line which I fixed with an added zip tie but then it seemed to have iffy spark. I left it and pulled the Pantera off the trailer, it started on the first pull and off we went. This is actually home territory for the Pantera, I bought it from the guy who owns the land here.

I found that the crust gave me just the advantage I needed and as long as I kept moving things were okay. It took a great deal of effort to stay balanced and while riding standing up seemed to offer and advantage I actually did best while sitting down. At first I just rode near the house but gradually got more adventurous until I was out on the big trails. The area near the house hadn't been ridden but people had walked the trail and packed down a nice path. I followed that down to a good turn around spot and returned just to make sure I could. I was nervous about the transition from my friend's land to the trails, theres a steep drop off and a mistake here would leave us stuck, stuck... The return went alright so I headed back out to the trails, this time I screwed up leaving and managed to stick the cat:

The hard crust was hiding powder underneath and ice under that, once you loose momentum its tough to get going again. I did managed to get loose with relatively little effort by following a trick I'd mostly forgotten. These old sleds have not much rear suspension and usually get hung up on the footboards. The trick to getting out is to stand and shift your weight side to side squashing the snow (in this case dry powder) out from under the boards, then inch forward and rock some more, then again. Finally with a blast of power I broke free.
Beyond where I'd turned before I found a track where a 4wheeler had ridden. It was much easier riding where he had already broken trail so I followed his tracks. Unfortunately the old Pantera is narrower than the 4wheeler so I was constantly being thrown side to side but as long as I kept the speed down it was never a real issue.
I was more concerned about walkers and dogs. The last thing I want to do is have an accident so I was looking way ahead and keeping my speed low. I was surprised how close I could get to people before they seemed to notice me, in most cases I saw them well before they saw me. Most dogs seem completely unconcerned by the sled, its like they know I don't want to bother them and they let me alone.

Anyway one trail I got on had particularly deep snow, the 4wheeler was clearly dragging its belly pan and while I really wanted to follow that particular trail through to go back to my friend's house, when I found the 4wheeler's turn around spot I figured I'd be smart to do the same.

On the way back to the house I found some areas I'd ridden over twice which were now packed down nicely and I could really make some speed over. This caught me when I headed into an area I'd only been over once and a particularly big bump caught me by surprise and tossed me completely off the machine. Fortunately as we parted ways I hit the kill switch and the sled stopped just a few yards from me. I'd been buffered by the snow and wasn't injured other than a small scrape. A good reminder to be careful out there!

By noon the weather had warmed considerably, the thermometer at home said 60 degrees although I suspect that was a bit optimistic. I could smell the heat of the Pantera's engine and while I was having a grand time I didn't want to push my luck. My friend helped me load the Cobra which would run but wasn't running well, I suspect one set of points isn't as clean as I'd like it to be which would explain somewhat the difficulties starting it. The Pantera was even somewhat reticent to start which is a sure sign of it being warm out so I knew I'd made a good choice.

In total I rode about 10 miles which for modern machines on a nice groomed trail is nothing but for an antique on a goat path is a big deal. We will definitely be back again next year, the area by my friend's house was recently logged and they've made a very nice area for sledding. I love blasting around a big field with friends so for sure next year I'll have my fleet of relics out there!

I promised and I did it!

I've been promising to hit the snow for some time now and I finally did. Was it a perfect day? Nope, not even close but I enjoyed myself and thats what matters.

Anyway Saturday dawned and after running a few errands I loaded up and headed for the land of little trails since I didn't have any registered sleds and wasn't about to pay to register any at this late date.

I arrived around noon and as I was alone I unloaded just the Polaris Cobra and got to work. I'd ridden this area last about 2 years ago and buried the big Ski-Doo in soft springtime snow so I was cautious. Interestingly this year I made it to EXACTLY the same spot:

You can just see the house in the background so I clearly didn't get far...

It was around 50 degrees and the snow had the consistency of mashed potatoes, it was sticky and deep. At low speeds I couldn't get the sled up on top and of course if I opened it up I'd have no reaction time. I used to ride this area a lot but there have been many changes since I did so I wanted to go slow for awhile. I finally managed to hump the machine around in a circle and get it extracted only to get stuck again and again everywhere I went.

So not exactly the exciting conclusion I'd hoped for but not a terrible day if I'm honest.